


Heart of the Dragon

by Gadhar



Category: The Expendables (Movies)
Genre: M/M, alternate universe - skyrim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 22:22:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3266495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gadhar/pseuds/Gadhar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Random connected/not connected tales of the Expendables, in Skyrim.</p><p>Because, yeah, that makes sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Foxy Roses

**Author's Note:**

> Uhhhhh....written cause I'm a dork and I can??
> 
> I own nothing.

" _Foxy Roses?_ " Barney reads to the sound of Lee's huff. He's since stopped trying to lunge at the paper. Even though they’re reasonably the same height and Lee can really _jump,_ he's apparently figured out it's not worth it to ruin Barney's fun. Still. "Foxy Roses? Really, Lee that is— _adorable._ "

"It is not! She needed the flowers and she couldn't--"

"Wait, _you_ actually _picked_ the flowers? God!" Barney roars with laughter and he knows by the death glare Lee's giving him he'll probably regret it later but it's worth it, in his mind. Far too much death and dying with this war going on. "And how does the Legion like having such a talented florist in their ranks?"

" _Shut. Up._ "

Barney snorts but hands back the letter this mysterious 'girl' wrote to Lee. He'll let it go for now, because they have to leave. Lee's an Imperial Soldier and he's a Stormcloak and neither of them really know what they're doing in this damn war anyway. "You should tell her to make up some potions for you as payment. I doubt she'd want her Foxy Roses to die."

"She likes foxes. _And roses._ And she asked me to get the flowers. _And I did._ But I couldn't very well let the Legion find out I was helping a _Rebellion supporter._ It was the only way she'd know it was me!"


	2. Ashes to Ashes

Sometimes it is very, _very,_ bad when he runs into Stormcloak soldiers. There's always a fight, some sort of conflict because the Legion hates the Stormcloaks and the Stormcloaks hate the Legion. There is no love to be found. And while Lee has rarely heard the soldiers speak such venom of the rebels, he knows there are some who do. And aside from Barney, he's heard nearly every Stormcloak speak murder of the Legion.

Very bad indeed.

He cannot afford to go back on his vows as a soldier, regardless of what he thinks of the empire's recent decisions. But he can't help but wonder—as his knives cut through someone's carotid, as a warhammer comes down on his shoulder—how many of them know Barney? Are his friend? Did Barney raise a mug in the name of the one who just shoved a dagger in between the plates of his armor?

When he goes back to his quarters—armor and blade stained, the blood still seeping through cloth—and finds Barney, against the wall next to the old fireplace that hasn't burned since the house it was in burned to nothing but a skeleton however long ago, he knows Barney wonders the same thing when he fights. How many are Lee's friends, his brothers-in-arms.

This damn war will do more to tear them apart than any stupidity on either of their parts.

And yet, sometimes it is very, _very,_ good.

The Legion doesn't know that he spends his free time with a Stormcloak. They don't know that some of the Stormcloaks are very well aware of just who he is. But as the dragon makes another sweep, low and to the ground, the fire spilling from his mouth and turning the grass to ash, he is glad he is not alone.

Lee is glad that someone, even if it's a damn cloak who he knows very well hates him but loves Barney, is the one who has his back against a dragon. Because there is nothing—no war or idea or principle—that matters to a dragon. A beast like that does not care about their petty feuds and Lee knows well enough they'll have to stand together against this beast. 

Sooner or later.


	3. Souls

"You're the _Dovahkiin!_ " Galgo exclaims to the sound of Lee's loud groan and Barney thinks that it's probably not the first time Lee's heard that sentence. In fact, Barney knows it's not even the first time Galgo's said it. Still, there's a curl to Galgo's words that makes it sound like he's bragging, like he somehow knew all along.

"I am _not,_ " Lee growls, his hand tight around the hilt of one of his daggers.

"Lee, even you have to acknowledge the fact that you just _absorbed_ a dragon's _soul._ "

"I didn't deny it, I'm just not--whatever he said."

" _Dovahkiin,_ " Galgo repeats and Barney's seen that glitter in his eyes before. It was the same one he had when he brought back a damn _ice troll_ for a _pet._ It took everything he had, plus a whole crate of honey nut treats just to keep Lee from killing the thing.

"Galgo, stop talking. Lee, the whole idea of a Dragonborn, a _Dovahkiin_ , is someone who slays dragons and absorbs their souls. Which is just what happened."

"I _> know._ All I'm saying is I don't like labels. I'm just Lee from Markarth. I mean hell, two days ago Doc was telling me I couldn't even _touch_ a dragon without dying a fiery death."

"Doc's a Forsworn, he ain't all there. Besides, any warrior worth their salt knows you could kill a dragon—"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"—It's just a little shocking that you're now devouring their souls like some sort of daedric freak."

Lee glares at him and Barney holds up his hands. No one even remembers the Dragonborn anymore, the tale or the legend. Leave it to one of his ragtag bunch to turn out to be a thing of legend. He's just glad it wasn't Gunner.

"So what do we do now?"

That question hangs in the air for a bit, the silence heavy. The lot of them are just aimless fighters. That's what they do. Fighting dragons is something else entirely. Being a legend is something else entirely.

"We figure out what exactly this entails, this _Dovahkiin_ thing. Galgo?" Barney waves a hand and leans back, mead in hand as Galgo launches into what will no doubt be an excited lecture that last the entire night.


	4. The Cost of Being Unimportant

Barney shrugs into his clothes, the feel of soft but scratchy fabric still unreal compared to the feel of armor—that heavy metal weight comfortably constricting his chest, weighing his limbs. It almost feels as though he's been wearing armor his whole life, rather than just for a few months straight. The feeling of regular clothes is foreign.

He'd like to pretend it's that feeling that's keeping Lee up tonight, though he knows it's not. 

The light from the sky, all the colors playing across the ground below, make it easy to see Lee, perched on the rock, framed by the moon. 

There's a dead sabre cat Barney nearly trips over as he stands next to Lee, a curved dagger sticking out of it's chest. "Lovely," Barney murmurs.

"He attacked me." Lee shrugs, pensive eyes on the swath of land below them. Barney honestly can't keep his eyes off the skies.

"You should sleep. How long has it been since you've been in an actual bed, in real clothes, away from drunken songs in the late night?"

Lee doesn't say anything. Barney sighs, it's going to be one of _those_ conversations. The ones where he _talks_ and Lee doesn't. "I get you're worried about this Dragonborn thing. But it's really not that big of deal. You just do what you always do. Fight."

There's a hiss of breath, clenching teeth and Lee's whole body tenses, words spat out in the grinding halt of the night to the silence that is Barney's utter surprise. "It is _not_ same. It is not just _fighting._ Don't you understand? _Dragons are back._ They are not just back, they are thriving. They will keep coming back unless I kill them all. Me. Because the only way to kill a dragon and keep it dead is to take it's soul. The last Dragonborn already did that. Do you get what that means?

" _Someone_ is bringing them back to life. _Someone_ is purposely putting the entire empire in _danger._ This isn't natural, it isn't supposed to be happening. This isn't just _fighting._ This isn't just _the war._ This is saving an entire freaking world."

"So?"

"So? _So?_ How am I supposed to do that? I'm Lee Frost-fall of Markarth. I lived in the dregs with the diseased, afflicted, poor, and anyone else who didn't have two septims to rub together. I'm a lowly imperial soldier who's all buddy-buddy with a Stormcloak--my _sworn enemy._ The only thing I'm extraordinary at is being stupid and I'm supposed to save the _world?"_

"Stand up."

"What?"

" _Stand. Up,_ " Barney repeats and makes a point to put the extra growl that Galgo once told him is extremely intimidating (Barney's not sure why though because half the time it's just the way he talks). He's not above using it to get what he wants.

Lee stands and Barney can see the fear edging his features, leaving his face pale and sallow, his eyes dark. 

Barney hugs him. Tight and hard and he knows it probably hurts because God, does it hurt him. Hurts to see Lee looking like the world's on his shoulder. Hurts to hear the self-deprecation. Hurts because he's hugging so tight he can feel the strain in his arms. 

There's uneasiness crawling across his skin, mixing with the awkwardness in his gut but gods he's always been a soft cheesy bastard around Lee. A blasted milk-drinker if he's honest. _"You are extraordinary and you are not alone."_


End file.
